3rd Party Time in Your Visitation Schedule

3rd party time is when your child isn't with either parent. This can be when your child is in daycare, school, with relatives like grandparents, etc.

Marking the time when your child isn't with either parent shows you how much parenting time each parent really has. This can help you make a custody schedule where both parents are happier with their parenting time.

When you mark the time when the child is in school, the parenting time changes so the mother has 65% of the time with the children and the father has 35%.

This schedule gives the father 60% of the time with the children and the mother 40%.

Adding three grandparent visits during the week changes the parenting time so the father has 56% of the time with the children and the mother has 44%.

Negotiating a schedule with 3rd party time

You can use 3rd party time as you negotiate a schedule with the other parent. Including 3rd party time gives you better parenting time percentages so it can help people be open to more possible schedules.

For example, a 60-40 parenting time divide in a schedule may be closer to 50-50 if you include 3rd party time. Or, a 70-30 divide may be closer to 60-40. Showing the other parent the parenting time percentages with 3rd party time taken into account may make easier to pick a schedule that both parents support.

Your court may not recognize 3rd party time in your custody schedule, but you can use it as you make your schedule so that both parents get a clear picture of the actual parenting time in various schedule ideas.